Microsoft won an appeals court ruling that may lower the rates many electronics makers pay to license technology considered standard in smartphones and computers. An appeals court in San Francisco Thursday upheld a $14.5 million jury verdict against Google as punishment for unfairly demanding what Microsoft said amounted to billions of dollars for use of patents covering Wi-Fi and video downloads.

Amazon was the first to unveil a detailed traffic plan Tuesday that included a high-speed lane for robot delivery drones -- including its own Prime Air fleet -- flying between 200 and 400 feet above the ground.

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and skeptic of broad government surveillance, objected Tuesday to a bill that would have required social media and online sites like Google, Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook to alert federal authorities of any terrorist activity.

Google is saying that it's time for Google+ to be going, going ... though not completely gone. The company announced Monday it will pull back Google+'s integration with Google products in an attempt to streamline the service, which has been panned by users who have been confused and annoyed at being forced into the network.

With YouTube taking about a 45 percent cut of ad revenue from videos posted on the site, YouTubers and companies that manage them are hunting for new ways to make money from the audiences they've built on the platform.

Today: Google shares were flying high follwing Thursday's earnings, adding nearly $67 billion in market cap, the largest single-day gain in Wall Street history. Also: Tesla details upgrades for Model S, and Facebook partners with Major League Gaming, getting into the eSports market.

Google says one of its self-driving cars has been involved in an injury accident for the first time. The tech giant disclosed Thursday that one of its SUVs was rear-ended in its home city of Mountain View, and the three people on board complained of minor whiplash. All were released from the hospital soon after the July 1 collision.

Target on Friday unveiled a sort-of high-tech showroom it calls "Open House" directly beneath its Metreon storein San Francisco. Open House includes a mock-up of an actual house made of translucent acrylic that's intended to show consumers how home automation products might work together in various rooms and situations in sophisticated ways.

Google's new image-recognition program misfired badly this week by identifying two black people as gorillas, delivering a mortifying reminder that even the most intelligent machines still have lot to learn about human sensitivity.

The latest models of Google's self-driving cars are now cruising the streets near the Internet company's Silicon Valley headquarters as an ambitious project to transform the way people get around shifts into its next phase.

Google's life sciences group has created a health-tracking wristband that could be used in clinical trials and drug tests, giving researchers or physicians minute-by-minute data on how patients are faring.

Google is adding a free tier to its subscription streaming music service in the U.S., aiming to convert the millions of people who click on the Google Play Music app every month but turn away because they're prompted for payment information.

California state officials released reports Thursday detailing six accidents that involved self-driving car prototypes, reversing a policy that had shielded details of how the next-generation technology is performing during testing on public roads.

Under pressure to unveil new products after being bought by Google for $3.2 billion more than a year ago, Nest Labs on Wednesday introduced its first home camera, an updated smoke detector and new software for its smart thermostat.

Join Mercury News tech columnist Troy Wolverton and staff writer Matt O'Brien live from San Francisco, as Nest holds its first event since being acquired by Google last year. There are rumors the smart-home-device company may unveil a new audio product.